Sewing machine feeding device



June 30, 1953 J. E; SANFORD 2,643,624

SEWING MACHINE FEEDING DEVICE Filed Sept. 3, 1949 i I g 21g. 5.

INVENTOR.

Patented June 30, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-.9

, SEWING MACHINE FEEDING DEVICE Jean E. Sanford, Los Angeles, Calif. Application September 3, 1949, Serial No. 113,959

1 My invention relates to sewing aids and has for its" general object to considerably simplify many sewing operations involving the use of home or power sewing machines, and also to afford protection to the fingers of the sewing machine operator when feeding material beneath the presser foot of a sewing machine.

A sewing machine operator often has to hold two pieces of material together and pass them under the presser foot of the machine, and heretofore in order to hold the two pieces in accurate registration it is customary to baste or sew them together with widespreadstitches before placing the materials under the presser foot of the machine. After the machine sewing has been completed such basting has to be picked out, the basting and picking out of the basting taking considerable time.

In order to save time taken by basting, an operator frequently will hold the materials in proper position and feed them under the presser foot with her fingers, and, particularly when sewing on heavy upholstery materials or in making up leather goods such as hand bags, risks having the needle puncture her finger tips, since the height of the presser foot may be such as to permit the finger tips to pass under it on the side under which the work is fed.

It is, accordingly, an object of my invention to provide a novel, simple and inexpensive feeding device by which the operator may feed material under the presser foot of the sewing machine without any danger of injury to the operator.

It is further an object of my invention to provide a novel sewing machine feeding device which, in addition to affording protection to the operator of a sewing machine, also makes it easier to carry out many operations incidental to the sewing of materials in making up dresses, suits, upholstery, and a wide variety of other goods.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detail description, and the appended claim.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention in a form I at present deem preferable.

Figure 1 is .a plan View approximately full size of the feeding device illustrating my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3, Fig. 1.

My novel sewing machine feeding device comprises a body I which may be conveniently 1 Claim. (o1. 113-203) grasped in the hand of the operator and comprises a relatively long flat member. At one end the body has a head portion 2 which is of a width approximately twice the width of the adjacent major part constituting the handle. At the end opposite the head 2 the body may advantageously be formed to provide an elliptic shaped blade portion 3. Throughout its length the body is uniformly tapered in a plane normal to its Wider faces to diminish from its head end.

To the transversely extending flat outer end edge of the head 2 are fixed a plurality of, in the present example, three longitudinally projecting prongs 4, which may conveniently be about an inch in length and about as thick as a small knitting needle at their base, but tapering to a sharp point toward their free ends, or substantially the same size in diameter as the sewing end of a sewing machine needle.

The prongs 4 are spaced relatively widely apart and are preferably of circular or other curved cross section, so that if during prodding operations of the material under the sewing machine presser foot, the end of a prong 4 happens to be pushed into the path of the sewing machine needle, the latter will push the prong aside or deflect the needle without damaging either the prong or the needle, and without interfering with the sewing movement of the needle or the stitching operations thereof.

If the tool is made of steel the prongs may, of course, be formed integral with the handle, but I prefer to form the tool from a suitable lightweight material, such as aluminum or plastic,

and insert into the wide head 2 steel prongs, as

indicated in the drawing.

The end 3 is flattened to afford a guiding surface for a small curved or hook projection 5, which is used to pull out basting stitches.

In order to guide the head 2 and prongs 4 in a forward and backward movement, a depression 6 is preferably provided on each surface of head 2, the depression 6 being of a suitable size to receive the fingertip or end of the operator's forefinger, her other fingers being used to grasp the handle 2 of the device.

In the use of the device the body is held in a position transversely of the line of feed through the presser foot and needle and nearly parallel with the top surface of the sewing machine table, the fin ers being ripped about the handle and the end of the index finger pressed into the depression 6 uppermost on the head to dispose the prongs transversely upon the lapped mar ins of the material as shown in Figure 4. In addition to enabling the operator of a sewing machine to feed material arranged in any required form without danger of injury either to herself or to the machine, facilitates spacing and arranging rufliing, gathering and trimming of all kinds, and largely eliminates or reduces the necessity for basting, since the material can be securely held in the required arrangement immediately in front of the machine needle.

It is to be understood that while I have specifically described a preferred embodiment of the invention, various changes and modifications, as for instances the provision of a cutting edge on the portion 3 of the handle, may be made by those skilled in the art, Without departing from the scopeof the invention as intended to be defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

In a device for feeding material to the needle of a sewing machine, an elongated fiat body having a head portion wider than the major length of the body, said head portion of the body being provided with a gripping depression in a face the plane through the fiat body, said prongs being spaced apart transversely of the body.

JEAN E. SANFORD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES, PATENTS Number Name Date 165,729 Hagerty July 20, 1875 260,237 'Reddick June 27, 1882 898,926 Reyer Sept. 15, 1908 1,087,216 Cooper Feb. 17, 1914 1,220,007 Rowley Mar. 20, 1917 2,347,069 Albert Apr. 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 30,227 Great Britain Dec. 29, 1910 697,287 Germany Oct. 10, 1940 

